Technology, Support, and News Forum

[bobseptic Profile]

im pulling my hair out trying (in vain ) to get a decent download speed, i currently use bt (standard telephone line not broadband),(isp AOL) no Broadband in my area :evil: . download speed starts a 29kbps & goes down to around 4kbps. (TIP) my friend got the gain turned up on his bt(standard 56k UK & Northern ireland) line from 0 to +5 which increased downloads by 3kbps and mad voice calls very loud. i would love to here that there is something like gpedit.msc for 56k modems. any advice apprieciated
my stuff:
compac presario 6092ea 1.7 amd athlon :D
256 ddr
bus clock 266 mhz
windows xp home build 2600
might as well have a pentium 1 with these crap download speeds.
cheers

[Weaver Profile Website]

What kind of modem are you using? If you are using a winmodem or a softmodem, that is your first problem. If you are using a hardware (controller based) modem such as a US Robotics Performance Pro, then it is a different story. Also, is your line noisy at all? Can you hear even the slightest bit of noise, because if you can, multiply that times 1000, that is what a modem hears.

Has your connection ever been fast. You mention that it starts at 29 and goes to 4. Do you connect at 29 or is this a download speed? Modems go into what is called the "spiral of death" when they are on a noisy line. The spiral of death is when a modem connects at lets say 45 kb/s and then two minutes later the condition of the line gets noisier, so it re-negotiates at 33.6 without the user even being aware. Minutes later, this drops to 28.8. Then 14.4, then, 9600 b/s, etc. It can't ever speed back up. The line gets noisy and the modem has to re-negotiate at a slower speed in order to maintain sync.

To alleviate this, you can do a couple of things. Disconnect all of the telephones in your house that are on the line, see if that helps. Purchase a higher quality modem. Preferably a hardware (controller based) modem. There are custom initialization strings for a lot of the modems out there, experiment with those. If all else fails and you are in the mood to p*ss off your phone company (apologies to anyone who works at one here) is to have the phone company do an FCC signal levels certification test and require them to provide proof of compliance. I. E. a written report with a list of signal levels/strengths at the specified frequencies per the FCC test. Now keep in mind the test was developed in 1968 and has not changed since then. Most phone companies do not even have the necessary equipment to run the test which takes most of a day to do if it is done the way the FCC specifies that it be done. When BellSouth was required to do one about two years ago the line in question went from unstable and 16.8 kb/s connections to stable and 52 kb/s connections. It did take them about two weeks of work to get the line to pass the test and having the FCC threaten them with stiff daily fines for none compliance with FCC regulations to get them to run the test the correct way and cleanup the line.

If they refuse that, which they will, try to get them to change out all of the load coils on the line as this usually fixes the problem. Also a lot of phone companies use what is known as slick 96 multiplexers to run large numbers of phone lines over just a few wire pairs. In the summer time the older versions of these devices tend to cause problems with dropped calls and call completion as a result of overheating. Often replacing the multiplexer and/or the circuit repeaters will get rid of the problems for a whole group of people that are in the same small area or neighborhood.

Sorry if that was confusing, I am really tired. I am going to go to bed. Good night.

-Weaver

[XJan87 Profile]

The beeper did it's job well .

[bobseptic Profile]

thank for the reply weaver.
my modem is an internal conexant hsf v92 56k pci
i was using AOL connecting at 45k, but downloads starded at 29 for a second and went down to 4 & sometimes 0.8.
i have solved the problem by ordering a bt surf 500 isdn broadband modem which comes next week :D
hopefully broadband will be fast enough to stop stressing me out 8)

Also has anyone using broadband increased the bandwidth using gpedit.msc as explained at www.windowsxpforums.com/speedup_interne ... dowsxp.htm
if so wot were the results?. cheers

[Mac33 Profile]

Bobseptic i would wait until you have tried your broadband before using this link. If you have been used to a 56k speed, then you will certainly notice the difference. I notice where you live, and wondered if you have ntl broadband in your area. If you have then its the cheapest to run and won an award as the best broadband for the price.
mac :D

[Weaver Profile Website]

I agree, if broadband is available, screw dialup.

-Weaver

[Weaver Profile Website]

That beeper is getting on my nerves, that word is not what you think it is. If anyone finds the word s.c.r.e.w. offensive, please let me know. Thanks

-Weaver

[nghtterror Profile ICQYIM]

Just asking but aren't telephone lines limited due to being an analog carrier? :bday:

[Weaver Profile Website]

You need to better define your use of the word limited. In terms of data, yes kind of. To explain this, we have to delve into the world of a T1. Think of a T1 as 24 phone lines that have a maximum total data throughput of between 1536-1544 kilobits per second (kb/s). Now divide that by 24 and you get about 64 kb/s per channel (per line). So your phone line is physically capable of 64 kb/s. Due to FCC regulations and additional protocol overhead, your maximum throughput is actually something between 53-56 kb/s.

-Weaver

[Kitster Profile WebsiteICQYIM]

Go to: Control Panel/Modems icon/Properties/Connection tab/Advanced button/Extra settings box:
add: (&F1&k0&10S33=32) if this doesn't increase connection speed....
add: directly after w/no spaces: (S15=128S27=64)
You may have to play around with the register settings a bit, ie: k0 vs. k2
or even omit a register setting.
Good luck!